


Beneath the Scales

by NoLifePoints (Vesperbat)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Furry, Gen, KaiJou hints, Post-Canon, Scalie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 16:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12586256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperbat/pseuds/NoLifePoints
Summary: Jounouchi attends Domino City's first kemono convention, full of nerves and excitement alike. There, he spots an amazing Blue Eyes, one no one seems to know anything about. But this is a mystery Jounouchi can solve... thanks to the poor judgment of a certain CEO.





	Beneath the Scales

Brightly colored creatures roamed the halls, stopping for photos and gesturing at one another with exaggerated motions. It had taken a lot of courage to come to Domino’s first kemono convention, and seeing the suits made Jounouchi feel... exposed. He wasn’t sure he belonged here in the first place, and this didn’t help. Maybe he should have at least gone for the cat ears. Anyone could pull _that_ off.

Then again, looking around, uncostumed attendees outnumbered the costumed ten to one. It was a sea of t-shirts and jeans. Some sported a bright wig, a hanging tail, the aforementioned cat ears – but most just stuck with their casual attire. Nodding to himself, he pushed on.

He wondered how you’d make a suit with scales, anyway. Synthetic snake skin? Pleather? You’d be sweating like a pig in there, and the fursuits were probably just as bad. Maybe he was better off without one after all.

That’s what he told himself… until he saw the Blue Eyes. It was as if the dragon jumped out of the card and came to life, more solid than Solid Vision – with a few adjustments. Its anatomy was modified to accommodate human legs, its neck shortened, and its wings scaled down just enough to pass through doors. Still, its pebbly scales glinted like ice in winter sun, every detail intricately wrought. This couldn’t be the work of some run-of-the-mill hobbyist. Something from a commercial, maybe.

As soon as he could catch his breath, Jounouchi approached the crowd and tapped a young man on the shoulder. “Hey,” he said, “is this some kind of promotion? Is Industrial Illusions having an event here?”

The man shrugged. “I haven’t heard of anything like that.”

Jounouchi queried several more attendees, but the answer was always the same: no one knew, but nothing had been advertized. An older, clean-cut man in plain clothes hovered by the dragon’s side, apparently spotting it, but Jounouchi couldn’t get close enough to question him. Frowning, he snapped a couple of pictures on his cellphone and stalked off.

But over the next two hours, even as he visited events and poked through the sales booths, he couldn’t get the Blue Eyes off his mind. Each time he spotted it in the hall, he tried to get closer – to no avail. Finally, he saw his chance: the Blue Eyes and its attendant passed through the automatic doors, headed for the parking lot.

“Hey!” he called, bursting out the doors behind it. The spotter glanced over his shoulder, but the Blue Eyes never stopped. Jounouchi assumed its pilot hadn’t heard him from inside.

“Sir,” said the spotter, tapping its shoulder. “Er, I mean, hey… you...”

Jounouchi wondered again if this was some kind of promotional stunt – if the man was even into this stuff. The Blue Eyes stopped, and Jounouchi opened his mouth to speak, but it crossed its arms in the shape of an X.

“Sorry,” said the spotter, avoiding Jounouchi’s gaze. “He’s leaving now. No time.”

“Just- just wait a minute!” Blue Eyes turned, and Jounouchi held up his phone. “There. Thanks. I only wanted a better picture. See, there’s this guy I know, and he’s gonna die of jealousy when he sees this. He’s actually kind of-” Blue Eyes took off, and the spotter scrambled ahead to lead him through the parking lot. Before he could get far, though, a phone chirped. Once. Twice. The spotter pulled it from his pocket, squinting at the screen. “I’m not sure if this is urgent or not,” he said, leaning close to the jaw and raising his voice. “A Jounouchi..?”

Blue Eyes stopped cold.

Jounouchi gaped at the spotter. “Huh? How do you know my name?” 

“Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you. Just a… message...” As the spotter looked at the phone, his eyes widened. “Oh. Dear.”

“Something… the matter?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. We just have to go. Now. Come on, let’s-” He didn’t have to tell the Blue Eyes twice.

Oh, well. In all that time they’d stood around, he’d managed to get a good shot of the dragon’s back. He sent it along, same as the first... and the phone, still in the spotter’s hand, chirped a second time.

Jounouchi stared. He dialed. The phone rang. The spotter scrambled to silence it, but it was too late.

“Ohh,” said Jounouchi. “I get it. It’s _you_ -” Before he could say anything else, the Blue Eyes grabbed his arm and yanked him toward a moving van with dark-tinted windows.

“Oh no,” said Jounouchi, grinning now, taking care to speak loud and clear. “You’re not supposed to get in a car with a stranger. Help, help, I’m being kidnapped… or am I like a princess or somethin’? You think I’m pretty enough?” The dragon’s only response was to throw open the back door of the van and shove him inside. “Hey! Easy! You wanna start a fight?!” The only thing that kept him from grabbing back at his assailant was the suit. Damaging that thing would be a shame – and so would paying for the damages.

It shoved past him, and the spotter, wide-eyed, started to follow. The Blue Eyes made the X again and gestured at Jounouchi.

“I think… he means for you to help him out..?” the spotter asked. The gesture changed to an O, and the spotter shut the doors behind them. Lights flicked on above, banishing the momentary blackness.

“But I don’t- I’ve never-”

The Blue Eyes groped for its head and tugged it off, setting it aside carefully. Kaiba’s face emerged, flushed and streaked with sweat, and he sucked in a breath of fresh air. “I’m at my limit...”

Most of the time, Jounouchi understood his tastes. They weren't especially unique. Big boobs, for example, or nice abs. Hell, that was half the reason he’d gotten sucked into kemono stuff to begin with. This… this was new.

“Stop gaping and get the zipper!” Kaiba turned and crouched as much as he could, unable to fully bend his knees. Jounouchi had to scoot back to keep from being slapped with the wings, but there was plenty of room. Good thing Kaiba could afford to hire a lit moving van to spend a few hours at a convention.

“Alright, alright...” The zipper was disguised as a seam, but with a little feeling, Jounouchi’s fingers closed around the pull. He kept one hand on Kaiba’s back and indulged in the bumpy texture of the scales. Once the zipper stopped, he helped Kaiba work his arms out of the suit and held it down as Kaiba freed himself. Beneath it, he wore… was that a wetsuit? Heat pricked Jounouchi’s face. “Why’d you have _me_ do this, anyway?”

Kaiba pushed the dragon suit aside and collapsed back, leaning against the cool metal of the van. “Because we need to have a talk about this.”

“About… what? You being a nerd? That was already pretty obvious.”

“No,” said Kaiba, eyes narrowing. “This is different. I need to know that you’re going to keep this under wraps.”

“You… think I’m gonna _blackmail_ you? Over Domino Kemono?” Jounouchi squinted.

“No, I think you’re too stupid to pull that off, but I also think you have a big mouth. This is my private life, and I intend to keep it that way.” He was a bowstring pulled tight, all ready to fire – that is, if it didn’t snap first.

“Wow, thanks. I wasn’t gonna say anything, but you’re not doing much to motivate me here.”

Kaiba exhaled. “That’s why we need to talk. We could do this the hard way, but I’d really rather not waste that much time on you.”

With a shrug, Jounouchi said, “Okay, so… what’s the easy way?”

“What do you want?” Short. To the point.

“What do I… want?” Jounouchi’s shoulders tensed, and he refused to let his eyes drop below shoulder level. That suit left nothing to the imagination. “Could you be a little more specific?”

“I don’t know. A good word with some employer, a rare card you couldn’t hope to get your hands on otherwise... name something. Whatever it takes to get you to sign a legally binding contract that you will not, under any circumstance, speak about this.”

“A contract? That’s really not...” Jounouchi paused, stroking his chin. “You know what? I want a dragon suit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Get me a suit like yours.”

Kaiba scowled. “That’s a little more extravagant than I expected. Try again.”

Folding his arms, Jounouchi said, “Nope, that’s the deal. Make it a Red Eyes, though. Y’think you could make its eyes kinda translucent?”

“How, exactly, do you intend to explain to your little friends where you got it if you can’t mention me?”

Jounouchi leaned in, a smirk on his face. “It’ll be our little secret. That’s what this is about, right? Keeping secrets?”

Kaiba froze. “Are you seriously planning to blackmail me? You know I won’t hesitate to use every resource-”

Jounouchi slumped back and laughed. “I was just kidding. You should have seen your face!”

“Well- this is serious! You don’t know what it’s like to be a public figure! I just wanted a few hours to myself!” Kaiba’s fists clenched at his side.

Holding up his hands, Jounouchi said, “Woah, hey. It’s alright. It’s just, you don’t have to bribe me to not ruin your fun. Thought you knew me better than that.”

Kaiba glanced away. “I… wasn’t prepared for this situation. I also regret giving you my number.”

Jounouchi shrugged. “Hey, you’re the one who wanted ‘another point of contact’ for Yuugi.”

“And you’ve done nothing but pester me since.”

“It’s what I do best. Anyway...” Jounouchi smiled. “Guys with weird and unmentionable hobbies gotta stick together. You can trust me, okay?”

Kaiba stared at him for longer than Jounouchi was entirely comfortable with, face blank. Finally, he closed his eyes. “Hmph. That’s a good one. Still... I wouldn't have expected you...”

“Me neither!"

"What do you even like about- never mind. I probably don't want to know."

Jounouchi snorted. "Good call. Anyway, I’m gonna go now,” he said, moving toward the doors. “This never happened.”

“You swear?” He looked like he wanted to say more, but he left it at that.

“I swear. Except... I might text you later. I have so many questions for you to ignore. Hey, can you get your guy to open this?”

Kaiba banged on the metal wall of the van to summon his assistant. “While you’re at it, send me your measurements.”

Jounouchi spun around, beet red, trying to wrap his mind around Kaiba would want his three sizes. If this was a seduction attempt, it surpassed awkward. It approached the point of bizarre.

“… for your suit?”

In the space of a few minutes, Jounouchi had managed to forget it entirely. “I said you didn’t have to-”

“A little reassurance never hurts.”


End file.
